Equivalence (Preview)
by Elebelle
Summary: It was created through battle and hate; forged from destruction and fed by malice. Only one thing can destroy it without destroying everyone and everything else that matters. When Kagome learned what she would have to, it didn't seem so bad. It sounded wonderful... until she found herself in over her head once she figured out the rest of the expectations.


AN: This is… ehhh. Sort of a plot idea that I'm testing out for one of my loyal reader/reviewers ~Mishi~

Mishi has been following me through Paradigm Shift since the very beginning, and the many creative reviews have been poking at me and poking at me. So, while I've been _utterly ill_ I've been thinking about the suggestions. They're really great ideas and if I didn't already have the entire plotline of Paradigm Shift mapped out, I may have incorporated them.

Sadly, I _do _have all of Paradigm shift mapped out. So! This is for Mishi, and I hope it's well-received. It's just an idea at this point but it might be the next fic I pick up once Paradigm Shift is finished.

Tiny preview that would fit somewhere around the middle of the fic if I write it.

Love you, Mishi!

Enjoy!

…hopefully…

~Ele

… … …

Equivalence

Preview

… … …

She could hear the rush of her pule in her ears and feel the adrenaline course through her body as she stared into those golden eyes. With his hand wrapped around the side of her neck and his thumb pressing against the underside of her chin, forcing her eyes into his, she wouldn't have been able to tear her gaze from his; even if she wanted to.

Which she, against all sense, didn't.

Kami, but he was scary. She could feel her hands shaking.

"Explain."

Her eyes rounded into wide saucers, panic overtaking her and drowning out all of the other confusion that came with every touch he gave her.

"Sesshomaru… I don't… it's so _crazy_. I didn't know it was you. I didn't. I promise."

His eyes narrowed. She felt like that look could pierce her and look into her very soul. A thought that only furthered the racing of her heart and pounding of her head.

"Didn't know _what _was me?"

Kagome really, really, really wished he's stop touching her so that she could just _breathe _for half a second. It was really hard to get enough oxygen when she couldn't breathe properly and she was about at her limit, here. Oxygen would be good.

She lifted her hand to his, tried to ignore the way her face betrayed her by nuzzling into his touch, and covered his fingers with her palm.

"There have to be four. There have to be. It's the only way and we _have _to destroy it."

"_Explain __**coherently**_, miko."

Great. Even less oxygen. If he would just stop _talking _in that voice that melted her into _goo _than maybe she could make sense.

"I. Uh."

She tried to tug at his hand on her neck, tried to pull back from his touch so that she could _think_.

"_Sesshomaru._"

He wasn't going to budge. Of course he wasn't going to. Kami. She just _knew _that he could see her blush, feel her skin heat under those fingers, _smell _her. And damn them, she could see Kouga and Miroku over his shoulder, standing there, so smug about this whole thing. She'd probably be angry with them if she could be anything other than aroused and terrified right now.

"There are other ways, but… not… they won't…"

The rumbling, warning growl that Sesshomaru gave her should have _only _been terrifying. It should have, but she could feel herself growing slick and she squeezed her thighs together; knowing it was futile. Why oh why couldn't she have just _waited_. Why couldn't she have _seen _them provoking her into it?

Then her anger _did _flare to the surface, and she glared at Kouga and Miroku over his shoulder. _They __**knew**_! They knew that Sesshomaru was the fourth. They knew! That's why they had coaxed her into practicing in front of him!

She shoved her palms against Sesshomaru's chest, trying her best to not wonder what it would feel like under that bone armor.

"The jewel! There have to be four! It started with four, and it has to end with four. With balance! Or _everything _will be wrong."

"The Shikon jewel?"

Oh thank the stars, he finally let her go.

Kagome stumbled back from Sesshomaru, dragging a deep breath into her aching lungs.

"Yes. It… Midiriko created it a certain way and it has to be destroyed a certain way." Kagome clasped her head between her hands, really hoping that her brain would register the new influx of sweet sweet oxygen and stop pounding. "Sure, I mean… someone could wish on the whole jewel. That would _get rid of it_ but it wouldn't be good. It wouldn't nullify all of the malice that it contains."

Kagome's back faced Sesshomaru as Miroku and Kouga walked up on either side of him.

"She… she created it out of hate and pain and conflict with three other powerful souls. Now I have to…"

Her shoulders sagged.

"I have to cancel it out to destroy it. Balance it… with the opposite of that…"

Sesshomaru turned those narrowed, calculating eyes to the other two men at his sides.

"There aren't that many people who would be able to… help. Not enough that are still unaffected by the presence of the jewel in the world. Haven't you ever wondered why youkai are growing weaker, why monks and mikos are getting so rare?"

Sesshomaru grit his teeth together, his fangs pressing almost painfully into his bottom lip.

"I have. You say that this is because of the jewel?"

Kagome nodded.

"The longer it exists, the more it draws out the power around it. It eats at everything that keeps the world in balance."

"How do you know this? Why should I entertain this _proposal_?"

He couldn't see her eyes widen again, but she knew he could hear her heart pick its pace back up.

"I… I remember." Her breath left her in a rush and her whole body was trembling now. Kagome let herself fall to the dirt and she crossed her legs, hanging her head. "What happenes to the world if it's wished on… there's no one left. No monks or mikos with reiki… no more youkai. They've destroyed the land and they _hate_. So much _hate and pain_."

Her breath came in shudders and she was immensely thankful that no one was interrupting her.

"We have to try. I need you to try. _Please_." She whispered. "It might not be enough. It might not be enough. It might… but if it is. Oh, Sesshomaru…"

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"We have to try. Because… because if we can't… it's just too horrible."

When she felt Kouga's hand on her back, she completely lost her composure. Screw the uncertainty and the doubts and her preconceptions of what things should be like in love. She launched herself into those strong, warm arms and buried her face in his neck.

It had to be enough. It had to work. She couldn't _imagine_, couldn't _conceive _of how they would all be able to become what they needed to be. They had to try though, and she had to try to let it happen.

Here, at this moment, with her arms around Kouga's waist and Miroku's lips on her neck, and her body filled with the fear and the dread that Sesshomaru wouldn't ant any part of it all, she knew that she had to let go of her hesitation.

"Perhaps," His voice was so deep and so smooth and so near that it made her shudder in Kouga's arms. "I should be flattered that I am considered so powerful."

For once, she didn't fight against the idea. Didn't hesitate as she felt their hands on her. She let Miroku and Kouga turn her, and there he was. So close. Closer than he had sounded, really.

"That would imply that I did not already know, so I will just enjoy you, instead."

And she was gasping into his mouth and it was so warm and so much softer than she had imagined. Her trembling fingers rose to his face and she felt like she was holding on to him for dear life because if she didn't, she might just be swept away from reality.

… … …

AN: Tis short. Tis…interesting…?

Let me know!

~Ele


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